The Park Hill South and Platte County girls’ tennis teams had three doubles teams make it to the Missouri State Tennis Championships at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield on Oct. 13.
Park Hill South sent Vivien Hamilton and Hana Bytyqi to the Class 3 State Tournament, while Platte County sent two doubles teams to the Class 2 State Tournament. Hamilton made it to the state tournament in doubles last season with a former teammate who has since graduated, when they made it to sectionals, and the Lady Panthers made it further this season.
Park Hill South’s Hana Bytyqi finished in seventh place at state in the Class 3 State Doubles Tournament at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield on Oct. 13
Hamilton and Bytyqi claimed seventh place overall, starting with a three-set tiebreaker victory over St. Teresa. The Park Hill South duo dropped its first game 3-6 before bouncing back with a 6-1 win and pulled out the match in a tight 10-8 game.
In the Class 3 State Quarterfinals, Hamilton and Bytyqi matched up with the eventual state champions Emery Gross and Abby Gaines from St. Joseph Academy. Park Hill South lost 2-0 by scores of 6-2, 6-1, before going up against Lee’s Summit and winning 6-2, 6-1.
In the fourth round, Hamilton and Bytyqi fell to Barstow 6-4 in both games to head to the seventh-place match where they matched up with Liberty. It took three sets, but Hamilton and Bytyqi pulled it out 6-1, 10-7, after losing the first game 5-7.
Platte County struggled in the Class 2 State Tournament with both double teams going winless in two matches each. Senior Cosette Stephenson ended her Lady Pirate career with junior Addy Mayne and made a run for an upset win over Suna Mungee and Vita Galati – from Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) – but ultimately came up short.
In the first-round match, the Lady Pirates pushed the Lady Bulldogs to a third-set tiebreaker as Stephenson and Mayne lost the first game 1-6 and bounced back with a 7-5 win. In the match determining set, Mungee and Galati came out with a 10-6 win.
Stephenson and Mayne headed to the consolation bracket and had a less competitive match with Capital City’s Manveeta Vuppala and Megan Wilde. The Lady Cavaliers won the opening two games 6-2 to eliminate the Lady Pirate doubles team.
Platte County’s other doubles team of senior Ellie Fish and junior Olivia Holbrook had less success as they didn’t win a game in either match. The Lady Pirates lost 2-0 to Olivia Edwards and Lucy Huang from Glendale and Patrica Herweck and Carlie Yates from Fort Zumwalt South.
Fish and Holbrook lost both games 1-6 against Edwards and Huang, before falling to Herweck and Yates 6-2, 6-1. Platte County had a historical season, had its struggles at state, and will look to build off of it next season.